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The Queen's Gambit (1983)

by Walter Tevis

Other authors: See the other authors section.

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2,180977,312 (4.11)87
Fiction. Literature. HTML:

When eight-year-old Beth Harmon's parents are killed in an automobile accident, she is placed in an orphanage in Mount Sterling, Kentucky. Plain and shy, Beth learns to play chess from the janitor in the basement and discovers she is a prodigy. Though penniless, she is desperate to learn more??and steals a chess magazine and enough money to enter a tournament. Beth also steals some of her foster mother's tranquilizers to which she is becoming addicted.

At thirteen, Beth wins the chess tournament. By the age of sixteen she is competing in the US Open Championship and, like Fast Eddie in The Hustler, she hates to lose. By eighteen she is the US champion??and Russia awaits.

Fast-paced and elegantly written, The Queen's Gambit is a thriller masquerading as a chess novel??one that's sure to keep you on the edge of your s… (more)

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» See also 87 mentions

English (93)  Catalan (2)  Hungarian (1)  French (1)  All languages (97)
Showing 1-5 of 93 (next | show all)
Wer hätte gedacht, dass Schach so spannend sein kann?!
Wirklich tolles Buch! ( )
  Katzenkindliest | Apr 23, 2024 |
One of the best novels I've ever read. I have only a rudimentary understanding of chess, but that was no impediment, due to Tevis's masterly prose. ( )
  Osbaldistone | Mar 13, 2024 |
Better than the Netflix movie ( )
  ben_r47 | Feb 22, 2024 |
My first (only??) chess novel. Intriguing, well-written, an absorbing tale. ( )
  fmclellan | Jan 23, 2024 |
I bought this novel in 2020 about an orphaned girl, Beth Harmon, who moves up and up in the world of chess competitions. It had caught my eye because of the hoopla about the series. But I ended up watching the series first (in 2023). It was really good. I could definitely see the hype about the series. Finally got around to reading this about 6 months after watching it. I honestly think I appreciated the book more than I would have if I had read it before watching. I would say that the series was mostly true to the novel, but I would have to watch it again to be sure. I seem to recall that the series added more about Beth's birth parents than was in the book, however.

Bottom line: both are good! ( )
  ValerieAndBooks | Jan 8, 2024 |
Showing 1-5 of 93 (next | show all)
Green pills and chess were Beth’s friends in the orphanage, and it was at this time that she fell in love with chess and became addicted to the pills.
The girl who grew up kept competing, and she went through a lot during the long journey, but in the end she still won the former world championship.
I like the author's lonely approach, the use of chess to highlight Beth’s loneliness, in my opinion,  chess is not only her best partner as a child, but also to bring her to the larger world. Beth also said that she interpreted the changes in the game, in which the way of attack and defense is the most beautiful, “chess isn’t always competitive. Chess can also be beautiful.”
And my favorite part is that when she was competing with the former world champion, in the end of the game, he took the initiative to give the king to her and admit defeat, both sides have a winning demeanour, a losing grace, winners and losers respect each other, and give each other the most sincere wishes. And Beth finally from a girl who was discriminated against in school because of her personality, to a world-famous talented chess player.
added by Trista_c | editme, cheng Trista (Aug 19, 2021)
 

» Add other authors (3 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Walter Tevisprimary authorall editionscalculated
Shriver, LionelIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Epigraph
That the topless towers be burnt
And men recall that face,
Move gently if move you must
In this lonely place.
She thinks, part woman, three parts a child,
That nobody looks; her feet
Practice a tinker shuffle
Picked up on a street.
Like a long-legged fly upon the stream
Her mind moves upon silence.

—W. B. Yeats, "Long-legged Fly"
Dedication
For Eleanora
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Beth learned of her mother's death from a woman with a clipboard.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Fiction. Literature. HTML:

When eight-year-old Beth Harmon's parents are killed in an automobile accident, she is placed in an orphanage in Mount Sterling, Kentucky. Plain and shy, Beth learns to play chess from the janitor in the basement and discovers she is a prodigy. Though penniless, she is desperate to learn more??and steals a chess magazine and enough money to enter a tournament. Beth also steals some of her foster mother's tranquilizers to which she is becoming addicted.

At thirteen, Beth wins the chess tournament. By the age of sixteen she is competing in the US Open Championship and, like Fast Eddie in The Hustler, she hates to lose. By eighteen she is the US champion??and Russia awaits.

Fast-paced and elegantly written, The Queen's Gambit is a thriller masquerading as a chess novel??one that's sure to keep you on the edge of your s

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